Aims and ScopeEurasian Journal of Medicine (Eurasian J Med) is an international, scientific, open access periodical published by independent, unbiased, and tripleblinded peer-review principles. The journal is the official publication of

Objective: The present cross-sectional study aimed to investigate possible association between Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Apical Periodontitis (AP). Methods: In table one it is mentioned 48 patients diagnosed with RA were included in the experimental group. Another 48 healthy age- and gender-matched participants who reported no history of any systemic disease were selected to form the control group. All the patients were examined radiographically and clinically to diagnose the presence of AP. The following data was recorded for all patients; the number of teeth present, the number of teeth with AP, the number of patients with AP, the number of patients with root canal treated teeth (RCT) and the number of patients with RCT+AP. The chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to determine the possible association between RA and AP. Results: A total of 1026 teeth were examined in the RA group and 45 of them was diagnosed as AP. In the control group, 1025 teeth were examined and 21 teeth were diagnosed as AP. It was found that the prevalence of teeth with AP (4.3%) was significantly higher in the RA group than the control (2%) (odds ratio [OR]=2.193, P=0.003). Logistic regression analysis showed that RA is significantly associated with AP. Conclusion: It can be concluded that patients with RA can be more prone to develop AP.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the relationships between serum endocan, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels in active Behçet disease. Patients and methods: Forty patients with active Behçet disease (24 males, 16 females; mean age 37.6±8.7 years; range 20 to 50 years) and 40 healthy controls (22 males, 18 females; mean age 38.8±7.9 years; range 21 to 52 years) were included in this study. Both patient and control groups underwent a complete systemic and ophthalmic examination by the same specialist. Endocan, VEGF, and TNF-α levels were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit in all subjects. Results: Serum endocan levels were 775.2±479.3 ng/mL and 275.8±145.8 ng/mL in the patient and control groups, respectively. VEGF levels were 1768.2±900.5 pg/mL and 980.2±135.3 pg/mL in the patient and control groups, respectively. TNF-α levels were 22.4±74.3 pg/mL-1 and 11.4±16.9 pg/mL-1 in the patient and control groups, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of serum endocan, VEGF, and TNF-α levels. There was a significant positive correlation between serum endocan and VEGF levels in the patient group (r=0.630; p<0.001). Also, there was a significant positive correlation between serum endocan and TNF-α levels in the patient group (r=0.713; p<0.001). Conclusion: Serum endocan level may be a new marker in evaluation of both the prognosis and activity of Behçet disease.

Background. There are no studies evaluating the possible association between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and apical periodontitis (AP). Objectives. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the possible association between AS and AP. Material and methods. Fifty patients diagnosed with AS, receiving treatment at the Rheumatology Clinic in Erzurum, Turkey, were included in the experimental group. Another 50 age-and gender-matched individuals without any history of systemic disease were included in the study as the control group. All patients were examined radiographically and clinically to diagnose the presence of AP. The following data was recorded for all patients: the smoking habit, the number of teeth present, the number of teeth with AP, the number of root canal-treated (RCT) teeth, and the number of RCT teeth with AP. Results. There were 1,283 teeth in the AS group and 1,305 in the control group. There was a significant association between teeth with AP and AS, as the prevalence of teeth with AP was significantly lower in the control group (1.3%) than in the AS group (2.9%) (OR (odds ratio) = 2.250; p = 0.005). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the number of RCT teeth and RCT teeth with AP (p > 0.05). Conclusions. Ankylosing spondylitis is significantly associated with an increased prevalence of AP. It can be concluded that patients with AS can be more prone to develop AP. However, AS does not reduce the success rate of endodontic treatment, because there was no significant difference between the AS and control groups in terms of RCT teeth with AP.

No abstract